Mike wrote:
> Yeah, I love Dexy's, and you're right about Soon/Plan B. However 
with me, Don't Stand Me Down is the album I return to time and again.

I'll have to check that one out some time, but I'm still in love 
with "Too Rye Ay" (esp. Until I Believe In My Soul).


Sam wrote:
>  So there's kind of an apples and oranges thing at work

pun intended?  ; - )


And Sam continued:
> you really sort of suggest an important point here - the role of 
influence. Where would The Beatles have been without the influences of 
Elvis and Dylan to draw on? They clearly GOT Elvis' 
performative/charisma genius, and I can't imagine that they would have 
sought such a broad political relevance without Dylan's shadow looming 
over the entire decade.

Part of what you've written is an interesting question that I 
personally don't recall hearing posed before.  The Dylan influence is 
undeniable, but how much did Elvis influence The Beatles?  I've never 
heard much of a direct connection myself, though it's obvious that 
both shared a love for the black R&B of the '50s (Elvis's 
contemporaries), since both covered many such songs.  And perhaps it's 
difficult to say whether The Beatles were more influenced by Elvis, or 
by the black artists that Elvis was covering (copying?), but I tend to 
think it was more the latter.

Be seeing you,
Bill

np: The Pink Spiders (these guys are fun & have some good songs!)